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Maggie Whitley

joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith & simple living

You are here: Home / lifestyle / marriage / {our first anniversary: 06.07.09}

{our first anniversary: 06.07.09}

June 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Filed Under: marriage

Our first wedding anniversary trip {married 06.07.08} started out with an adventurous drive to the family cottage. We wanted to save money but still do something we’ve never done before, which is stay at the cottage without parents — or anyone else, for that matter. After hearing Z lost his job just an hour before we left we were more than ready to get out of town for a few days.

More than ready...

We spent four days in a town North of Grand Rapids. We had campfires, ate hot dogs over the fire, and enjoyed Root Beer Floats. We had fancy dinners were we devoured catfish, lobster and steak. We drank beer {responsibly}, enjoyed White Russians, slept in, played Monopoly, watched four movies, and went to the drive-in for ice-cream. We went to Pizza Hut, took lots of pictures, and swung on the deck glider. It was amazing :)

There was horrible, horrible rain and thunder/lightning the night of our wedding. Well, it was horrible for our guests. We loved it! The wedding reception was actually cut short because the basement of the country club was flooding. Yikes! Obviously God was super excited we were married, so he made a little extra noise up in Heaven ;D Obviously.

I thought it was pretty sweet. I have never seen lightening like that before. So, to keep the tradition going, the night of our first anniversary came with the same hard, loud rain and thunder. It was pretty humorous. I think it would be amazing if that happened every year. Nothing like going out with a bang!


I have no clue what I’m doing here.


This was Zack’s favorite coffee mug. Please note the ridiculously large cereal bowl. His poor spoon can’t even keep up with the bowl. Ugh.


Do you see my red barrette? It’s really a headband, but Zack insists on calling them barrettes. Whatev.



Here’s Zack, driving us into town. We rented lots of movies, went out to dinner, and got ice-cream. Since the weather was overcast or rainy for most of our trip we had a lot of time for movies. We watched You, Me & Dupree {always a fav!}, Last Chance Harvey, Finding Nemo, and Doubt. We loved them all! Doubt was especially good.

Here’s Zack, sharing with me his future excitement over renting Last Chance Harvey. He’s so excited he let out a shriek!

Here is me! Showing off a little sass, of course. But… what this picture doesn’t show is Zack telling me, OK, now show some sass. He said that to me, I promise! :)

We love going to the cottage, especially because this is where we got engaged, just over 3 years ago during my birthday weekend! Lots of wonderful memories there :)

Zack + Gussy = L-O-V-E


Reenacting our engagement <3
07.03.06


YEAAHHHHHH — 1 year of marriage :)



The beautiful view we enjoyed for 4 days.



I look so pitiful here! Clearly you can see I’m missing my sewing machine.
Poor Gussy…



I shouldn’t admit to this, but I’m going to. We played Monopoly and I lost, and I was a poor sport about it :( Whoops. BUT AT LEAST I WAS THE IRON, RIGHT? ha ha. We both love Monopoly.


This particular game rocks because it is from, like, the 60’s. It’s super old and therefore THE BEST!





It was soooooo, sooo, so nice to be away for the weekend.


LOL! Zack insisted on carrying the camera on his belt. Of course I let him.




Driving in to down to devour some Pizza Hut pizza! YEAH!


We don’t get to see views like this living in Detroit. Ya know, because it’s the city.


Are you yawning? Letting out a whoop? Hmm…



Red barrette + purple sunglasses. Yo.



Zack made some rockin’ fires during our stay at the cottage. I kept telling him to put more wood on. He would look at me like, WHY? And I just said, Because no one is here to tell us no!!!!!!! Oh, Gussy… :)




ROOT BEER FLOATS!!!!!!!!!




I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for this pic:
XOXO honey ;D


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ABOUT MAGGIE WHITLEY DESIGNS:
Maggie Whitley weaves her writings around joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith, and simple living. She homeschools her children, enjoys a quiet room while reading, and roars with laughter over the challenges & delights of motherhood. Maggie and her husband, along with their four young children, live in metro-Detroit. She has been writing online since 2008.
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maggiewhitley

JOY in motherhood & homemaking 🧺🌿💓✨

maggiewhitley
Reflecting on this today 💓🕊 When I reflect o Reflecting on this today 💓🕊 When I reflect on the moments I’ve felt my mind spinning, my emotions swirly, it’s almost always when I’m not feasting on the word of God. Not that reading scripture is the cure for anxiety —no! Rather, it’s hard to worry when we’re worshipping.
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A quiet night: the furnace is running, the tea is A quiet night: the furnace is running, the tea is hot, and the whisper of a page turning. ♨️☕️📖 // We are breaking from school this week, my plan is to read a lot, walk a lot, and rest a lot. How about you?

#mothersofinstagram #tea #winterreading #hygge
I fought every internal comment I could think of a I fought every internal comment I could think of and took my kiddos for a looooong walk today before dinner. ❄️✨ There’s just so much work required to raise children! I’m feeling like a tired lady. But sunshine & fresh air are good companions to keep around. 

We came home and I made “the best dinner ever”. Max specifically announced, “it’s so great you’re launching new meals to the world”. LOL— kids! 🤣👏🏻💓
How about a little Wednesday night introduction? 😘Social media sure has changed over the years and we don’t always SEE who we’re following or remember WHY we’re following certain accounts. 

So, hello! As you can gather, my name is Maggie ;) 

I started writing online (almost 13 years ago) to share the handmade products I was sewing. My shop was called Gussy Sews. ✂️👛I love the community that has grown from sewing & sharing online.

Let’s FFW to today: Zack and I live in Michigan and have four young children (2 boys & 2 girls). I slowly left the handmade industry and walked right into homemaking, homeschooling, and encouraging women through writing. 💕📝

Motherhood has been very hard on me. (And not just because of how close in age our four children are.) It’s been hard for me because I fought for years to accept that *it’s supposed to be hard*. 

I mean, how do you effectively teach another person to know and love the Lord? Bc that’s how I think of motherhood: a calling to nurture others by studying the One who nurtures me. So I gotta make the first move: study the Bible and seek Him first. As my friend Autumn reminded me, vulnerability births transformation. 

(I’ve had to be really vulnerable!)

So, yes motherhood has fully transformed me. But even more so, Christ has fully transformed me. My list of “all that He’s done for me” is off to a beautifully long start.

Something else I want you to know about me: I stalled for years before acknowledging I have anxiety and depression. It’s hard to talk about this because of course this isn’t forever “my hardship”, but rather because acknowledging this means to heal I have to work through some really difficult things. ✨

But my friend Jesus walks alongside me. He’s already done a mighty work in my heart, including helping me process my anger in healthier ways. I’ve also adopted a heart for sisterhood, mothering, and Titus 2 mentorship.

Sometimes our greatest losses are our greatest gains? That’s what I’m clinging to!

How about you? Tell me something about yourself so I can get to know you on a deeper heart level. 🖤🖤
How do you play in the winter? // We had a really How do you play in the winter? // We had a really great time visiting family in northern Michigan. On my blog I share a few ways we played outside, plus I describe a memorable childhood game ❄️☃️. Did you play it as a kiddo?
We had gotten a bit lazy with our rhythms: screens We had gotten a bit lazy with our rhythms: screens in the morning (HGTV), playtime before lessons, and not enough quiet time after lunch. This made for a really, ummm, unenjoyable learning experience. 

But today! Today we reset the rhythm, and we have had a much happier home & time learning together. 👏🏻
Visit my stories for a quick message from ME — t Visit my stories for a quick message from ME — think outside the box in terms of how you view the definition of “motherhood” 💓😘 (also: look at my little friend, she’s sooooo snuggly)
It’s another cold, winter day. ❄️Today I hop It’s another cold, winter day. ❄️Today I hope to bundle up for another family nature walk, knowing the fresh air sweeps out any & all frustration, inviting inspiration inside. ✨That’s something we all need more of.
seriously LOL: I’ve found the secret to calming seriously LOL: I’ve found the secret to calming the Laundry Beast (as a family of 6). Who wants the inside scoop? ✔️🧺👏🏻
Another batch of “fun mail” is headed out tomo Another batch of “fun mail” is headed out tomorrow :) small celebrations like this are very life giving! PS. thinking of starting a zoom book club — I need more sisterhood in my life. 👏🏻📖
The house is quiet. The heat is on. The pages are The house is quiet. The heat is on. The pages are turning. The tea is calm. 🖤☕️🧺📖
Breakfast with Buzz! If only you could see his ful Breakfast with Buzz! If only you could see his full costume and laser blaster and of course the Buzz action figure he flys around 🌟💚💙💨someone has discovered a superhero crush! #joyinmotherhood #slowmornings #surprisedbymotherhood // Landon @ 2.5yo
Today on my blog I have a list of books I hope to Today on my blog I have a list of books I hope to read this year. Plus my reading goal for the year. And a few practicals ways I fit in reading as a mama of four young children & homeschooling them. Basically, all the good stuff ☺️💓📖 #maggiewhitleydotcom #readersofinstagram #read #readmorebooks
It was the perfect opportunity to rearrange the fu It was the perfect opportunity to rearrange the furniture as we took the tree down Tuesday midday. Def one of my fav things to do.🎄👋🏻 We made it through our first week back to school since mid-December! It was rough to begin but ended with high fives. ⭐️✏️This morning I zoomed with a mama friend and I’m impressed with the many topics we covered. Sisterhood is sooooo necessary! ☕️👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏼

Just a few cheery memories from my week! How about you?
Book reading! One of my best “Maggie” activiti Book reading! One of my best “Maggie” activities. I finished my last book moments before 2020 ended, which brought my started list to a close. Small joys add up to big joys ;)

What are you reading this year? Currently?

How many books are you planning to read? What’s your goal?

I’ll share what’s on my list for 2021 soon as I received some nice titles at Christmas. 📖✨🤍
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